Artemy Vedel (1767?-1808)

VEDEL, Artemy Lukyanovich (b. 1767, according to other sources —1770, 1772, Kiev, Ukraine; d. 14 [26] July 1808) — graduated from the Kievan Theological Academy; studied for a time with G. Sarti. From 1787 conducted the cathedral choir maintained by Governor General Yeropkin in Moscow; in 1794 was appointed conductor of General Levanidov’s choir in Kiev, and from 1796 conducted the choir of the Kharkov Collegium. For some time was a novice at the Kievo-Pechersk Lavra; soon after leaving the Lavra, was declared mentally ill (possibly for political reasons), and was committed to a prison, where he died.
Due to the censorship that prevailed in the sphere of church music, Vedel’s compositions were not published during the 19th c., but were disseminated in manuscript copies. Only at the beginning of the 20th c. did some of his works appear in editions published by the journal Muzïka i peniye, and by the ﬁrms of P. Seliverstov and P. Kireyev. Vedel’s sacred musical works number approx. 100 compositions, including 20 concertos, a complete Liturgy, an All-Night Vigil, and a number of hymns for various feast days. V. did not use chant melodies; many of his works employ the three-voice kant style and display a marked inﬂuence of secular music of the late 18th c. (Italian, as well as Ukrainian).